Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Terra Nova Was AWESOME

I watched the two-hour season premiere of Terra Nova and found it thoroughly satisfying. In my opinion, it really upped the bar for science-fiction television. Things that I liked:

  1. The explanation that the colonists in the past are actually living in an alternate time stream to that of the future. That was kind of cool.
  2. The dinosaurs looked as good as the ones in Jurassic Park.
  3. Each character has their own stakes. The dad has his family at stake, Josh left his true love in the future and is feeling reckless, the doctor has a whole colony to take care of, and the kids are just trying to be kids in a world that wants to eat them. Kudos for the shot of the dinosaur gnawing on a kid's leg. That was awesome.
  4. The natural world is filled with tremendous beauty and I bet they showcase that all season.
  5. The world they left was the epitome of dystopian. People have to wear breath masks, there is no moon or stars...only pollution and overcrowding. The government forces families to have only two kids...overpopulation means extinction.
  6. The whole blend of high-tech weapons vs. dinosaurs is cool because the colony is so small.  And just to add flavor, they threw in additional conflict with a rogue colony that broke off from the main one and is in control of the mineral mine.
  7. LOST style J.J. Abrams mystery with drawings on the rocks near the waterfalls left by the colony leader's son who is missing but some kind of mathematical genius that knows something about the future.
  8. They've kept religion out of it. It's a new society and thus far, I didn't see a church anywhere. I can't say that there isn't going to be one...but that was one of the things I hated about Battlestar Galactica. I just thought the religion aspect got way too heavy so that it dominated storylines.  And they're headed that way in Falling Skies too.
  9. CLICK TO MAKE BIGGER--GREAT WALLPAPER FOR YOUR PC
  10. Great acting on the part of the colony leader played by the villain from the movie Avatar.
I think the funnest part of this show is just letting my imagination run wild with the characters.  I mean...what would it be like to not have to work some 40-hour a week job for mediocre pay but instead be 85-million years in the past with other humans trying to build a future and forge a society? Imagine the primeval world that existed back then and how danger and adventure would be around every corner.  Awesome cannot begin to describe how that would feel...and they capture it perfectly in this show.

I can't wait for next week. If you aren't watching Terra Nova and you love sci-fi...you really should do yourself a favor and watch. Seriously.

28 comments:

  1. Firsties! Or is that played out? I hope not, because I have a t-shirt that says it.

    I'm glad you gave it a good review. I told Sweetie that I was going to give it a chance but I'll probably wait and then Netflix it like I did Lost. Otherwise, I can't keep track of ongoing storylines.

    How'd they explain that they could take high-tech weapons back but not something to build a house out of something other than bamboo?

    RE: your feeling that going back in time would be great because there would be no 40-hour work week: I sometimes feel that way, but then I remember that in my particular (50) hour workweek, I spend a great deal of time not actually working, and when I get hungry, I don't have to go shoot a dinosaur, skin it, grind up the meat, and figure out how to start a fire and then cook the meat. So while it would be great to have an adventure like that, I have to remember that I, myself, gave up on camping the last time I tried it and instead went bungee jumping at the Wisconsin Dells. If we are ever faced with an apocalypse, my only use to society will be as monster bait. And I'm resigned to that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not all of the houses were bamboo. They had windmills, cars, laser guns, and a whole agricultural community. It was more like a modern city with running water and modern conveniences located in the lost world. I thought it was cool. There were some things made from bamboo.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So why exactly did the dummies go back to the time of dinosaurs? And don't they realize their society will be crushed by an asteroid/ice age eventually?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dammit. Totally forgot it came on last night. Damn. I can be such a loser.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I wish I had cable. Or high speed.
    Once I can rent this, I'll put it at the top of my cue.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm really excited for it! Glad you're recommending it. Totally gonna watch it while cleaning the apartment now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This sounds great. I allow myself to watch one show a season due to limited time in my schedule. This might be a good choice. I hate it that I missed the first one.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I forget I wanted to watch this. I hope they have it online, because we only have netfilx. Cool synopsis :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yeah, forget 40 hour work week, that's a job that doesn't end when you sleep because there is always something that needs doing. As a grand kid of farmers, thank you but no thank you. I like the idea of having finished my bit at the end of the day and being able to relax without the risk of being called lazy.

    Can't watch the show because of the nightmares I had watching Jurassic Park the FIRST TIME. Giant scary lizards the lot of 'em!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was pretty impressed too. They explained everything I initially had problems with. The alternate time stream fixes any paradox issues. They didn't create the portal, just discovered it and figured out how to widen it long enough for people to go through. That takes care of the "if they have the technology, why go to the age of dinos" issue. The portal goes to that one time. It also explains why they aren't out terraforming another planet or going past our own extinction event into the future after the planet has renewed itself.

    They also have several million years before the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. That's plenty of time to figure out how to stop it or prepare to weather it. That and being another time stream means it may not even happen.

    All in all, I liked it and will continue to watch and see where they take things. I really love dinos.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I really liked it too. Funny that I described it as "Lost with dinosaurs" to my friends! I wasn't expecting too much out of Fox, but they blew me away. I just hope they can keep going with it and all the great possibilities the show has.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I watched thirty minutes and the recorded the rest. (Sorry, football!) Maybe it was just me, but thought the special effects were okay. I'll watch the rest tonight though.

    ReplyDelete
  13. So they find a Stargate that takes them to the Land of the Lost?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Mutt: Why do you have an issue with the miracle exemption of this show? It's no more ludicrous than any paranormal thing or faster than light warp speed or Jedi powers. To answer...yes they have a tunnel and you walk down the tunnel and it shimmers and bam you are 85 million years in the past in an alternate time stream then the one that sent you. So it already branches off from the present 2146 dystopian polluted earth. That's the "Miracle Exemption". From there it's just a colony with modern conveniences and knowledge (population maybe under a thousand) trying to survive in the age of the dinosaurs. So you have heavy weapons bringing down T-Rex's...only they are limited on ammo and there are lots of raptors moving about eating people.

    Oh and everyone in the past has a six pac and all the girls are super models and right off the bat there's skinny dipping and bewbs barely restrained by bits of wet cloth. You should be all over this.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I watched this too! (Ok, I watched what I could between kids screaming and such.) I think it is one I need to DVR. It was totally awesome! I am excited for the next one!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Haven't watched any Sci-Fi in a while. You make this sound soooo interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It sounds like an interesting show, from your post! Thanks for the info.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing it when it comes out on dvd.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Me too! Me too! I really liked the show and I've got high hopes that it continues being awesome.

    Can't wait for next week.

    I know you don't like character's dying and all, but I sort of wanted one of the kids to die when they were OTG. :D But I was happy enough with the leg gnawing. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  20. I will check it out next week. Sounds like a good change.

    ReplyDelete
  21. We've talked about how publishers don't want fresh ideas. This follows the same line of thought. I mean I can compare it to "Stargate", "Jurassic Park," "Lost," "Land of the Lost," "Sliders," and "Earth 2" (remember that from the '90s?) all off the top of my head.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I missed it! Hopefully I can find it online--the kids really wanted to see it because they liked Dinotopia and are hoping it's similar. :)

    Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

    ReplyDelete
  23. Damn; I missed that? I thought it started next month.

    I'm glad you gave it such a good review, cuz I really want to watch this series. Danged internet blogging - disrupts my TV viewing.

    ......dhole

    ReplyDelete
  24. Ooo I forgot about this one. Glad to know it was good. I will have to check it out next time.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Damn it! I missed it because of family stuff. I'd planned on catching it to so I will definitely catch up next week. Sounds good and I'm glad too the religion crap isn't in there. Good review!!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. @Rogue Mutt, Don't forget Dinotopia. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  27. I really want to watch this. I'll probably have to wait till it comes out on DVD though.

    ReplyDelete